Tag: Ouseburn Open Studios

Our first Late Shows

Newcastle upon Tyne started to have its own variation of the Museums At Night annual event that’s held in Europe during May. Studios started to open, and it’s turned into a fun cultural event, with venues in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle opening on the Friday and the city centre venues opening on the Saturday (with some variations).

Our studios were open just for 2.5 hours and we were not on the official programme but had made a few flyers to distribute in the immediate area and promoted it on social media. We got just over 100 visitors, which was not bad since most people hadn’t realised that our building – derelict for many years – had been transformed into desirable working spaces.

Janet’s space on the left, Claire’s space on the right.
End of the evening (Janet’s space on the left, Claire’s space on the right).

Lots of people commented on how colourful our studio was, and that it looked warm and inviting. This was a lovely impression for visitors to have. We hope to make our studio equally welcoming for the Ouseburn Open Studios event in November when we will be part of the official venues and hope to see lots more visitors.

Our 1st open studios event

Janet's end of the studio as it looked for B.Box Studios' first Ouseburn Open Studios.
Janet’s end of the studio as it looked for B.Box Studios’ first Ouseburn Open Studios.

There was a big effort to let people know the studios would be open and a few opened their doors on the Saturday in advance of the advertised opening on Sunday – but we were still hanging pictures and moving furniture so could not open early.

Claire’s husband, David (aka Ben), was our technician and did a great job of finding cheap and effective hanging solutions. He also has a great eye for a level line – invaluable when hanging pictures!

When Sunday dawned, Janet was unable to go to the studio due to a flare up of rheumatoid arthritis (triggered by preparing for the day). Claire and her family looked after the studio all day and greeted all the visitors. Some feedback indicated that some people were visiting as a result of seeing flyers we had put in local venues.

We were delighted that people managed to find us and that initial feedback seemed positive. A couple of people even made a return visit. We learned quite a lot about how to display things in the space and are looking forward to taking part in the next open studios event.

Getting settled in

Janet’s end of the studio.

Claire has been busy getting on with some painting. Janet (who fell ill just after finally getting a key to the studio) has just got as far as bringing in a few old paintings (gradually preparing for our first Ouseburn Open Studios – Sunday 24th March 2019 – we’re just open for one of the two days).

We’ve been thinking about hanging systems and print browsers. Measuring pictures, mounting pictures on paper, framing, printing labels, and deciding on prices will have to be done soon.